WEED MIGRATION 



711 



been a mystery. Eventually, however, the whole matter was 

 cleared when the source of these plants was traced to a factory 

 which utilized old rubber shoes, These shoes were collected from 

 every available source, and, before being melted for their rubber 

 were stripped of the cloth linings which were thrown upon a rubbish 

 heap. These linings naturally contained seeds of innumerable 

 plants from the roadsides of every land, and the rains and spring 

 freshets of the Naugatuck valley gave them every opportunity to 

 scatter and to start life anew in Connecticut soil. In this or similar 

 ways many of the plants mentioned by John Josselyn, Mianasseh 

 Cutler, and Jacob Bigelow undoubtedly reached our shores; and 

 these emigrants are being reinforced by almost every person who 

 comes to us from foreign lands. 



Many weeds start in the proximity of woolen mills. Among 

 these are, teasel, buffalo bur, various borages, erodium, etc. Others 

 are introduced with agricultural seeds. In recent years there 



Fig. 545. Chicory (Cichorium intybus) . An immigrant from Europe, a, flower- 

 ing branch ; b, single head ; c, single flower ; d and e achene ; e, cross 

 section. 



(U. S. Dept. of Agr.) 



